"You don't have any records. You don't have any way of validating. So it puts physicians in a very difficult position of … possibly writing it, not knowing whether that person has gone to three other clinics that day."

Electronic system not ready yet

Oxycontin addict Felicity (the CBC has agreed to use only her first name) knows it doesn't take long to find illicit prescription pills on Sudbury's streets.

"It's actually not that hard because so many doctors are prescribing it to patients," she said.

"And it's actually very easy to get."

The number of prescription painkillers that hit the streets could be mitigated if accurate, timely information was made available to doctors.

Franklyn said an electronic system is needed to give doctors and pharmacists information in real time. The province's health minister, Deb Matthews, said that kind of system is planned, but it's not ready yet.